Sanitary Assistance

When travelling, it is necessary to know what precautions should be taken before leaving, what to do and where to go in case of serious or in emergency situationsor minor illness.

Italy does not present a risk to health, but consult your doctor before starting is always advisable. Moreover, you should obtain the information in advance in order to be able to take advantage of basic services with no problems, in case of emergency.

Useful references:

• Official site of the Ministry of the Health: http://www.ministerosalute.it/
• World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/ith/countries/ita/en/.
  

National Health Service

The National Health Service - SSN is the body delegated by the Ministry of Health to regulate all activities and guarantee medical care, to promote health and prevent disease. The SSN comprises public institutions as well as private ones with special agreements.
In Italy, the Health System is run by the state, organized independently by region (which means there may be some differences in the level of service offered by the various regions), and has many specialised hospitals (e.g. dermatology, ophthalmology, etc.).

The European Health Insurance Card - T.E.A.M. (Tessera Europea di Assicurazione Malattia)

The European Health Insurance Card (TEAM in Italy) is available free of charge through Sickness Insurance Institution of the European State: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
These Card (or provisory substitute certificate) allows citizens staying in Italy temporarily to use the buildings and services of the Italian Health System under the same conditions as Italian citizens.
The Card replaces the previously used forms (E110, E111, E119 and E128).
The Health Insurance Institution in the residence country will be able to give further information.

For those without a TEAM card
For specialized examinations or tests on a non-urgent basis, those without a card may go to private doctors and structures, paying personally for the service, or go to public buildings where the Italian state rates are charged. In this case, EU citizens may apply to the health insurance of their home country for reimbursement. This possibility is valid only upon presentation of the payment receipt and health documentation.

If you come from other countries, contact an insurance or assistance company in your country which will socially cover you in case of illness or accident in Italy.

Public sanitary care

Direct services can be obtained from public and private participating offices and buildings of the National Health Service - consisting in a network of local health units (ASL) and hospitals throughout the territory. Some ASLs, clinics and hospitals have intercultural mediators available to facilitate communication with doctors and nurses and to give detailed explanation on how the SSN functions.
Direct services refer to health treatment offered free of charge, except for a small amount (ticket) paid by the user.
To this end, the Ministry of Health has instituted a special booklet issued by the ASL (which in some regions have adopted the logo USL, AUSL, etc.), to all those presenting the European health card.
This booklet (called libretto-modulario and available throughout Italy) provides instructions on how to obtain health services in the clinics and hospitals of the National Health Service, both those run directly by the state and the private participating bodies.
Further information can be found on the Ministry of Health website:
http://www.ministerosalute.it/assistenza/approfondimento/

Those with a carta di soggiorno or permesso di soggiorno (temporary residence permit or residence permit) have the same rights as Italian citizens. Health care is also provided for minor children included in the carta di soggiorno or permesso.

Foreign people with no residence permit

Foreign citizens not complying with the laws regarding entrance and staying in Italy are nonetheless guaranteed health services in National Health Service buildings.
In this case, doctors and nurses, etc. do not inform the investigative police.

The ASL you belong to assigns the foreign person a card called S.T.P (Foreign Person Temporary Present) that he has to show in order to use the sanitary sevices and that must be renewed every six months in the place in which it has been issued the first time.
They are guaranteed free of charge:

• In the public structures operating within the national health service, urgent or essential surgery and hospital treatments, even if continuative, for disease and accident;
• The base sanitary assistance;
• The distribution of some services such as the assistance during pregnancy and for the interruption of pregnancy, the assistance to the minor, the prevention, the diagnosis and the treatment of infectious and spreading diseases;
• The free essential medicine distribution.

Sanitary emergency

118
In case of emergency it is possible to call from all the national territory the free telephone number 118. In the cases in which it is not necessary the transport in hospital the service of medical guard (diurnal and nocturnal) is activated, while the service of ambulance or helicopters ambulance (helicopters) is active in the cases in which the transport in hospital is necessary.
The helicopter ambulance service is active just in some regions for very serious car incidents or for incidents in mountain so as to make faster the transport of the wounded people.
The 118 head office is operating 24 hours out of 24 every day and is in contact with assistance services, the hospitals and the other agencies that take part in emergency case (Civil Protection, Firemen, National Fire Department, and so on).

Useful references:

• Sanitary emergency in Italy: http://www.118italia.net/
  It describes the services of sanitary emergency and operating head officeo f the 118 available in Italy: ambulance, medical urgency car, medical urgency motor-bike, helicopter ambulance, helicopter aid.

Tourist medical guard
The tourist medical Guard is a seasonal service of sanitary assistance, available in venues with consistent tourism, for no resident people, and behaves the same way as the medical guard, guaranteeing on the contrary, the assistance, for the entire day.

Hospital - First Aid
In the main hospitals there is a service of First Aid which is free and guaranteed to every Italian, european and extra european citizen.

It is possible to have the addresses of Italian hospitals through the site:
http://www.ministerosalute.it/infoSalute/atlanteHome.jsp?menu=atlante

Useful information and web addresses in case of emergency

• DRUGS: Toll Number 800 461461 or Italian Government web.
• White Cross: http://www.crocebianca.org/
  via Vettabbia, 4 - 20122 Milano - tel. +3902/831215
• The Italian Red Cross: http://www.cri.it/
  Central Committee: via Toscana 12 - 00187 Roma - tel. +3906/47591
  Through the web page http://www.cri.it/informazioni.html it is possible to find the list of all the delegations in Italy with the telephone numbers.

Ticket and Exemption

The ticket is the rate to pay in order to use a determined sanitary service (specialistic visits, laboratory examinations, drug prescription and first aid services).
The price depends on the type of examination and/or visit and on the type of structure you address to. In some cases it is possible to ask for the ticket exemption in order to avail free of charge of some treatments. The exemption is given on the basis of the age, the registration in the placement lists, the income and the type of disease. The hospitalizations are ticket free.

Advisory bureaux

In every A.S.L. are available advisory bureaux , that have, by law, to assist free of charge all the pregnant women, even if they do not have the residence permit, let alone their sons until they are out of age. In the advisory bureaux are carried out individual, couple, group activities and are guaranteed, in particular:

• Health Assistance of the woman in pregnancy.
• Assistance to the woman who decides to interrupt the pregnancy.
• Information and orientation on the contraception.
• Sanitary Assistance to the foreign children not enrolled in the National Health Service.
• Preservatives free controls.

You can avail of all these services, in a free way and without the family doctor's prescription, going personally to the same advisory bureau in order to fix an appointment or taking the appointment by telephone.

Pharmacies

Before leaving on a trip, it is advisable to buy the medicines you could need and that could be difficult to find.
This above all because in Italy not all the medicines can be bought freely, most of medicines need a doctor's prescription.
In turn, both in the cities and among small townscouncils, are guaranteed the service at night and during public holidays: you can find in all the pharmacies the list of the nearest pharmacies on duty, open at night or during public holidays.
In a city centre, it is possible to consult the list of the nocturnal pharmacies in the local pages of the main daily paper.

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